Chris Johnson - who I have had the pleasure of talking to before - at the Washington Blade has a story that reveals that apparently some gay Republicans are finally waking up to the fact that trying to change the GOP from the inside is like trying to bail the rising water on the Titanic with a teaspoon. It just will not get one anywhere and other than providing an exercise in masochism it is an utter waste of time and effort. I remain convinced that the ONLY thing that will change the GOP is to have the wingnuts turn out in droves and the Party still go down in horrific electoral defeat (something I hope and pray will happen in November). Only then will the few remaining sane and moderate members of the GOP - and they are definitely few in number - have any chance of mounting a movement to seize the Party back from the Christianists. Again, it is nice to see some of these prominent gays finally figuring out what I figured out years ago after Bush was in the White House. Here are highlight's from Chris' story about his interviews with gay Republicans, past and present:
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Former gay Bush supporters unhappy with GOP, some turning to Obama - Members of the “Austin 12,” the group of prominent gay Republicans who famously met with George W. Bush in 2000, are not exactly rallying around John McCain. Several members of the group told the Blade this week that they are considering voting for Barack Obama in November . . . The “Austin 12” gained notoriety after meeting with Bush in Austin in April 2000, when Bush was still governor of Texas and a candidate for president.
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David Greer, who was appointed to Bush’s AIDS advisory board in 2003, left the Republican Party that same year and has been a registered Democrat since then. He said gay Republicans would never be a strong enough voice to influence the GOP and that the party is more interested in exploiting gay Republicans for political gain. “As long as there’s a far right in the party, gay Republicans are way too small in numbers … to have any effect on the party,” he said. “We actually end up doing greater and lasting harm to the whole GLBT community.”Greer resigned his position on Bush’s AIDS council after the president endorsed the marriage amendment. . . . .The former Bush adviser said supporting the Democratic Party is the best way to achieve gay equality,
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Greer argued that McCain “doesn’t care a lot” about gay issues, and since the GOP candidate is having trouble mustering support from its conservative religious base, McCain will probably let the “far right” control his positions on those issues.David Catania, an at-large City Council member for the District of Columbia, was similarly skeptical that McCain would change GOP policy on gay issues. “I wouldn’t give supporting him a second thought,” he said. “The cards are on the table. I think gays are kind of kidding themselves if they think John McCain is going to be any better for the gay community than George Bush.”
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Protectmarriage.com, the organization leading the campaign for the amendment, announced on June 25 that McCain sent an e-mail to the organization expressing support for the measure.By endorsing the initiative, McCain is “alienating himself from the gay and lesbian population that he had a fairly decent reputation with,” Bennett said.“I think he needlessly injected himself into this race to pander to the [James] Dobsons and others on the right,” Bennett said. “Is he going to take a position on the rest of our ballot initiatives? I don’t think so.”
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Daniel Stewart, head of the New York State Commission of Corrections, said the entire Republican Party has turned him off in the last few years.Stewart was elected to the City Council in Plattsburgh, N.Y., as a Democrat, but former New York Gov. George Pataki convinced him to switch to the Republican Party to run against the city’s mayor in 2000. Stewart won the election.But now Stewart is planning on leaving the Republican Party because the party is not moving where he’d like on issues that affect him personally, such as same-sex marriage. He noted his resentment over having to travel to Canada in 2004 to marry his partner.
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McCain has often been criticized for his lack of support for gay issues in Congress, including his “no” votes on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and a hate crimes measure.McCain also articulated continued support for the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy during GOP presidential primary debates.
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